Toy pistol.



O.-C. MADISON. TOY PISTOL."

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 18. 1911.

Patented June 25, 1918.

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- OLIVER C. MADISON, 0F OMAHA, NEBRASKA.

TOY PISTOL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 25, 191%.

Application filed September 18, 1917. Serial No. 192,008.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, OLIVER C. MADISON, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Omaha, in the county of Douglas and State of Nebraska, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Toy Pistols, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to toy pistols, and. it is the object thereof to provide a simple and inexpensive device of this kind, capable of discharging a projectile withconsiderable force and accuracy, and in which the projectile is introduced at the breech of the barrel. A further object of my invention is to provide means for gaging the position of the projectile in the barrel, and for retaining the same therein prior to its discharge. A further object of my invention is to provide a novel hammer and trigger arrangement, whereby the pistol may be discharged by pressure of the hand upon the grip, rather than by pressing with the index finger upon a trigger located in the usual position beneath the stock and in front of the grip.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a side view of a pistol embodying my invention', portions of the barrel at the breech and muzzle being in vertical section, Fig. 2 is a transverse section on the plane of the line 2-2 of Fig. l, and Fig. 3 is a rear end view of the pistol.

In carrying out my invention I provide a stock 4 and handle or grip 5 which are preferably made from a single piece of wood of uniform thickness, having flat sides, and being shaped or contoured as shown in Fig.

\ 1. The upper side of the stock 4 is slightly concave to receive the tubular barrel 6 which is preferably made from a rectangular piece of sheet metal rolled into cylindrical form so as to bring its longitudinal edges together as shown at 7 in Fig. 2. At the front and rear ends of the barrel, respectively, there are tongues 8 and 9, integral with the barrel and having one side alined with the longitudinal joint 7 thereof. Said tongues 8 and 9 are bent downwardly over the respective ends of the stock, the tongue 8 being secured to the stock by means of a tack or brad 10, and the tongue 9 being secured by the pointed end-portion 11 of the trigger-piece, which is driven through an opening in said tongue into the upper rear part of the grip, as shown. The trigger-piece is made of re silient material such as spring-wire, and

comprises a part 12 extending diagonally back from the attached end-portion 11, an offset or shoulder 13, and a curved part 14 extending around the back of the grip 5 and terminating in a ring or loop 15. A staple 16 straddles the part 14 adjacent to the shoulder l3, limiting outward movement thereof from the grip. The entire trigger-member is so connected with the grip as to stand out normally in contact with the staple, as shown by the full lines in Fig. 1, but is deprcssible to the position shown by dotted lines in said figure. At one side of the grip there is a wide slightly curved wire staple 17 of which the ends are driven into the side of the grip at points equidistant from the rear edge of the grip, as shown. Said staple 17 forms a guide and limiting stop for the hammer-bar 18 which extends across the side of the grip, passing slidably beneath the staple. The hammer and actuating main-spring therefor are formed from a single piece of springwire, of which a portion is wound into a coil 19 and arranged transversely below the stock 4 near the upper front part of the grip 5; a Wire-portion 20 extending from one end of the coil rearwardly to the part 18, and from the other end of the coil a curved portion 21 extending forwardly beneath the stock and having a sharpened end-part 22 driven into the stock, as shown. Said part 21 is also secured to the stock by a staple 23, which is driven into the lower side of the stock, straddling the wire, as shown. At the upper end of the part 18 there is a U-bend 24 extending in laterally over the grip and across the end of the barrel, the upper leg of said U-bend terminating in a loop 25. WVhen the hammer is in released or discharged oosition the main-spring 19 presses the lower leg of said U-bend 24 against the offset at the rear end of the stock, while the upper leg of the U-bend extends across the breech of the barrel 6, as shown in Fig. 8. The hammer is cooked by pulling rearwardly and downwardly upon the loop 25 until the U-bend 24 passes the shoulder 13 of the trigger-piece, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1, and the hammer is then retained by said shoulder until the trigger-part 14 is pressed in toward the grip as indicated bv the dotted-line position thereof. The projectile 26 is preferably a cylindrical piece of wood or the like, and is inserted into the breech of the barrel while the hammer is in cocked position, being allowed to project from the barrel sufficiently to be forcibly struck by the hammer when the latter is released.

For retaining the projectile in position prior to its discharge, there is provided a thin strip or tongue 27 of resilient material, which is passed through a slot in the upper side of the barrel near its rear end, extending therefrom forwardly and downwardly within the barrel, so as to yieldably and lightly press upon the upper side of the projectile. Said resilient tongue is retained in position by bending the rearward end thereof around the rear edge of the barrel, as shown, or it may be otherwise suitably at tached to the barrel if desired. By a proper proportioning of the projectile and the resilient tongue 27, the latter may serve as a gage to position the projectile within the barrel, the projectile being merely dropped into the breech while the barrel is inclined downwardly, and the tongue stopping the movement of the projectile when the latter has entered the breech to a suitable depth. The slight resistance offered by the tongue to movement of the projectile does not appreciably retard the same when it is struck by the hammer, but prevents the projectile falling out of the barrel should the latter be directed upwardly or downwardly to a considerable angle from the horizontal, as for aiming the pistol prior to discharging the same. The discharge may be readily effected by a slight closure of the hand when holding the grip 5, or the hand may grasp only the lower part of the grip and the trigger-part 14 be pressed down with the thumb.

Now, having described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a toy pistol, a tubular barrel open at the breech thereof, means for yieldably retaining a projectile with a portion thereof projecting from the breech of the barrel, a

Copies of this patent may be obtained for spring-actuated hammer movable to strike said projecting portion of the projectile, and a trigger-piece for releasably retaining the hammer in a retracted cocked position.

2. In a toy pistol, an integral grip and stock, a tubular open-breeched barrel secured upon the stock, a spring-actuated hammer movable to strike a projectile extending from the breech of the barrel, and a trigger-piece engageable with the hammer to retain the same in cocked position, the trigger-piece being disposed wholly upon the rear edge of the grip and movable toward the same to release the hammer.

3. In a toy pistol, an integral grip and stock, a tubular open-breeched barrel secured to the stock, a springwire hammerpiece having a coil disposed beneath the stock and a portion extending from said coil alongside the grip and terminating in a transverse portion movable along the rear side of the grip toward and from the breech of the barrel, and a resilient trigger-piece having one end secured to the grip adjoining the barrel and extending therefrom around the rear side of the grip, said trigger-piece having an intermediate shoulder for engaging the transverse portion of the hammer-piece to retain the latter in cocked position.

4. A. toy pistol comprising an integral wooden grip and stock having fiat parallel sides, a tubular open-breeched barrel secured to tliestock, a resilient tongue secured in the rearward portion of the barrel and adapted to frictionally engage a projectile to retain the same therein,'a spring-actuated hammer having a head-portion adapted to strike the end of a projectile projecting from the breech of the barrel, and a triggerpiece disposed wholly upon the rearward edge of the grip and adapted to releas'ably engage the hammer to retain the same in cocked position.

0. C. MADISON.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington,'D. 0. 

